


gone, gone, gone

by marimoes



Series: Promptober 2019 [5]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon, Pre-Donquxiote
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-25 22:09:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20919416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marimoes/pseuds/marimoes
Summary: As the world burns around her, Baby 5 finds her footing and a way out.





	gone, gone, gone

**Author's Note:**

> Day 5: Escape
> 
> I've wanted to write a fic about Baby 5 for a while, and damn, it felt good. It definitely won't be my last. 
> 
> The fifth of 31 short prompts for the month of October. To see the full list go [here!](https://noswordstyle.tumblr.com/post/187741793157/as-mentioned-earlier-this-month-im-doing-a)

Rotting wood shakes around Baby’s head, rattling her body within the hollowed out trunk she’s called her bed these last few weeks. The world is loud around her. Sounds of fire, screaming, and crying. 

So much crying. 

Prying herself loose from the tree’s hold, her clothes get caught against the side, tearing them further than they already were. Scraps of fabric now loosely held on her body, resembling something some would’ve once called a dress. Now, it’s all she has. 

Her eyes struggle to focus out of their sleep, reds and oranges mixing in the distance, and tears prick at her eyes. It’s too loud. She’s too alone. 

Her feet start moving before her mind does. Bare against the hardened soil beneath her, and the world shakes with each hit. Her lungs feel like fire breathing in the smoke, and while she knows she should crawl to stay out of it, she doesn’t have time. 

_Run. _

_Run._

_Run._

All away from the noise and hopefully to the shore. The shore that hold nothing but disappointment for most; it’s waters bare and undrinkable. Still, it’s her sanctuary on an island of torment; her home.

She hears yelling from her left, commands being given to kill everyone that they find. That otherwise the ‘mission’ won’t be complete. Whatever it is—she knows it isn’t good. 

Her mind doesn’t let her think about her family left behind. Brothers and sisters and mother and—no. She can’t, she won’t, she has to run. 

She reaches the shore and for a moment, she’s able to breathe again. Smoke not yet reaching out into the ocean, and the crackle of fire and falling trees behind her seems to fade away. All that remains is the constant sound of the ocean, pushing and falling onto the shore. 

The one constant she’s been able to find. 

To her right, there is a boat. There are several boats, actually, each ranging wildly in size. If not for the urgency, she would likely stand and admire them, taking in all their features. But she doesn’t have time, and she doesn’t take in their features. 

She does, however, run. 

Small and unnoticed, she runs aboard the smallest ship, ducking behind a crate just below the ship’s deck. Outside there are still screams, and she winces, knowing that her people have nothing. How could they ever fight back with nothing?

Curling her legs into herself, she waits. Listens as the sounds of fighting fades away, and the sound of footsteps instead get closer. She feels the boat move, a heavy shove coming off of the dock, and though she cannot see outside, she knows. 

The knowledge leaving her empty. 

Soul stirring in a different kind of longing, one that keeps her quiet. One that she would one day learn kept her alive. There are talks overhead of the next location, Spider Miles, and she wrinkles her nose at the name. _What a terrible thing to call a place_, she thinks, _nothing like Kuen_. 

Kuen Village, a place of nothing itself. 

Shifting, she moves toward the sole source of light below, a small port window that is nearly out of her reach. Standing on a crate, praying she makes no noise, she looks outside at the ocean for the first time. Massive, ever reaching is the sea, but in the distance the red and grey still color the sky. 

Her chest hurts, and she knows she wants to cry, but she doesn’t. Instead, she settles back into her corner and lets the darkness fold over her like the blanket she’s come to love.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: @noswordstyle  
Twitter: @__moes__


End file.
